Yerba Mate Latte

I have been keeping up with industry trends surrounding tea and coffee, especially when it comes to retail locations and cafes. There are some very good resources out there for people wanting to learn more.

Today's blog has come about out of an inspiring article in Fresh Cup magazine, titled "Building your non-coffee menu."

I have thought about doing this for quite sometime, but never had the means or the know-how. I recently bought a (cheap) espresso machine, and have been studying up on coffee for a while now.

It was time to try the Yerba Mate Latte to the best of my abilities.

The mate is put into the built in strainer, which water is then forced through at a high temperature and pressure. This is what gives espresso its bold, although, creamy flavor and texture.

The yerba mate comes out quite dark and quite hot. I didn't know how the leaves would stand up to the temperature. When I brew mate (especially when done in a gourd) I like to brew it at around 150 because there is such a high volume of leaves. If I brew it too hot, there is too much bitterness and bite.

I figured milk would help tone that down though.

Final outcome?

Not bad. It could use some honey, or perhaps 2% instead of whole milk. Or possibly soy, which is my favorite choice in a latte or cappuccino.

It is a mild, grassy flavor that is easy on the stomach. I quite enjoyed the two cups I was able to make!

It may be smart to experiment with other herbs or teas. One that came to mind immediately was rooibos. Perhaps another day!

~Billy

For the Tea Community

I would like to inform all those who have supported my blog throughout its existence that I will be back at it mid January upon my return to Indiana for school. I have already scheduled times and days that I shall be posting. Keep in touch for further posts in 2012. My new years resolution; get back to doing what I love.

~billy

To Re-learn That Which is All too Familiar...

Classes were cancelled today due to a small tragedy at our university which occurred last night. A fire started in a part of the school of business (where most of my day is spent), and smoke filled the entire building. Workers will spend all of today and possibly this next week venting the building and cleaning soot.

I decided to take the day and spend it with a dearly missed friend of mine; GongFuCha.

Can you guess what cake this is? I have seen it on a few blogs so far...

I realized something about GongFu today though.

I realized that I have lost the knack to properly prepare one (probably more) of my favorite sheng'pu teas.

GongFu is, for me, a method of preparation and a way to focus completely on the tea set before me. With all my past reviews, I have prepared the tea (for the most part) in a way most would describe as GongFu.

As noted in my previous post, I have been rather busy and the only teas I have been drinking are simple pleasures that I can throw into my two tea tumblers and take to go. This has put a dent in the way which I normally prepare my teas.

Getting to know a tea by GongFu teaches you much about what the tea is and how best to release its full potential. In brewing the aforementioned sheng'pu, I just couldn't get it to taste the way I remember it. I will surely be making a stronger effort to integrate GongFu into my daily happenings.

~billy

Life, The Universe, and Everything (Tea related)...

...42

For those of you that read my blog on a regular basis, you may have noticed that I slid under the radar for a while on every type of tea networking site; Blogger, Teatrade, Twitter etc...

I apologize greatly for my absence. I have missed the community.

There are a few reasons why I stopped posting frequently.

1) School is back in session. I have a very full set of classes and a high GPA requirement to meet. This has bogged me down quite a bit.

2) For those of you who do not know, I now own and operate BourgeaTEA. This has been a major focus in my life right now. I bag teas, package and ship teas, sell wholesale, and have meetings and events to attend at the business incubator where the office is located. Among the many plans I have for the company, I plan on starting to bottle one of the most successful products of ours. This is a bit of a conflict of interest for me, as I love the traditional teas and traditional methods of brewing, but I see a large opportunity for the market which I plan to sell to. I have been working diligently on finding investors, writing proposals and business plans, gaining connections to different retailers, and creating relationships with co-packers for the actual phase of bottling the beverage. I plan on going far with the company and making it a prominent part of the specialty tea community throughout North America and perhaps even abroad.

3) I am joined in another venture relating to a different beverage: coffee. I have a wonderful opportunity to help get another business off the ground and potentially run far with it. There are less details available, since this week will be the start-up for this project, but I can keep everyone updated as time goes on.

4) There is one more project which I will be working on with a group of students here on campus (business related). I have put some time and effort into this one, but it is less aligned with my interests, although it does have the potential to grow into what I would like to do, which is investment into student businesses (either equity ownership or interest investment). I want to help foster the spirit of entrepreneurship among students and help people realize their passions, and then give them the ability to run with their ideas.

That's what is happening in the life of Sir William. Once time allows, I will return to regular posting, but for now, my life is moving forward in big ways.

~billy

Long time no see...

Yes, I did attend the World Tea Expo again this year. I must say, it was fantastic and more successful than last year's (at least for me).

I have also been traveling the domestic world, as I have new-found flight benefits with Southwest.
So, if any of you would want to meet up for a weekend of tea, do please email me, because it wouldn't be a problem for me to fly out to meet people.

I obtained an almost obscene amount of teas to taste and reflect upon, so do be looking for those notes in the upcoming weeks.
Also, there will be posts about highlights of the Expo, whether that be a company or an event or simply just someone I met.

Sir William of the Leaf will be back in full force starting tomorrow.
Thank you for your outstanding patience, dear readers. It is highly appreciated.


~billy

A Learning Experience; American Hao

After work, I usually pick myself back up with a lengthy tea session.

This is always one of the highlights of my day, but today's session threw me a bit of a curve.

I joyfully pried a few chunks of leaf off my American Hao cake, dumped them into my designated shengpu pot and began the therapeutic brewing process.

The rinse water was discarded and the first infusion poured. I was awaiting the wonderful attributes of this tea to envelope my taste buds once again...

But alas, this was not what the tea had in store for me today.
Instead, I was confronted with a sour infusion lacking depth, aroma and complexity.

I quickly discarded the infusion and continued in my normal fashion, thinking that it may have just been the wrong amount of time or the wrong temperature.
The second infusion swirled in my cup, awaiting the first sip.

Again, the same lackluster, uninviting flavor pronounced itself once more.
This, I thought, cannot be right.

I waited and pondered my brewing parameters.
Did I use too much leaf...?
Was the water too hot? Too cool?
Did I not pour the water correctly?
Was my Brita not doing its job properly...?

Nothing made sense. The way I brewed this tea was the way in which I had always brewed it, and it has always turned out beautifully.

I can only suspect that it is the fault of the yixing. I do not know what else it could have possibly been.
I brewed the tea in a porcelain gaiwan and it emitted the wonderful notes that I have always noticed in this tea.

But how could that be? A yixing teapot is supposed to enhance the brew, not present negative qualities...

Perhaps the teapot needs a cleaning, although, I do not have any desire to destroy the lovely patina that is building up. This pot has deep sentimental value and I would not want to destroy what I have worked so hard to make.
I even made a different shengpu the other day and the pot performed just fine.
I am utterly confused, but there has been a lesson taught here today...

Tea is mysterious.


~billy

Promo Codes

Daily Gourmet is offering a specially priced package from Naivetea.

On top of this, I have 10 promo codes that will take $5 off your purchase.

If you have not tried Naivetea yet, definitely should give them a look!

Email me at sirwill@gmx.com if you would like a promo code for this great offer!

The first ten to email will receive the codes.




~billy

Tea Foam

This post is quite off topic for what I normally post, but it caught my interest recently.

Foam that collects on the surface of tea, sometimes.

The reason it interests me is because it only happens with some teas, and only some of the time; hot, iced, black, green...etc.

I was brewing a Kenyan CTC tea the other day, and when I poured it, foam collected.
When I brewed a full leaf Assam, there was no foam.
I poured a green tea into two different cups; one had foam, and one did not.

Now, the picture (disclaimer) I did not take. The picture is also of instant (powdered) iced tea. I already know the reason that instant tea foams; the amount of solubles, like sweeteners, as well as the mixing process that introduced oxygen into the mix.

But why does loose leaf tea occasionally collect foam?

Search Google and a variety of answers (sometimes incredibly comical) will appear.
Some of the reasons I found:

-Soap residue from a dishwasher that couldn't perform its function properly.

-The introduction of oxygen into the water, when poured, stirs up tannic acid and causes it to foam.

-The mixing of hot and cold water makes foam.

-The dissolved solids in the water cause the foam.

-Hot water scalds the tea and creates the foam.

-A chemical reaction between sugar and caffeine.

-Extremely fine dust and foreign particles on the leaves float to the surface and collect as foam.

-Microwaved water makes tea foam.

-The foam is denatured proteins that detach from the leaves when hot water is poured onto them.

I do not know if any of these are the correct answer, but it was entertaining reading and looking some of this information up! If anyone else digs up anything, please feel free to share!


~billy

Tea Therapy

As you can tell, my posting frequency has been lacking. This is due to a few factors; business endeavors, school, competition practice (for a business program) and the fact of my camera being used for filming purposes.

All of these factors, including the lack of a good tea session at least once every two days, have contributed to an increased amount of stress in my life. I have not been as productive as I should be as I can see through the quality of the work I have been putting out.

I will be stress free come this Monday, but until then today was my last day to bask in the serenity of an uninterrupted session with a beautiful tea.

Compliments of Gingko, a Wuyi Bai Rui Xiang was my accompaniment for the day.
(I will be reviewing all of the teas sent by you, @Gingko, after Monday when my schedule frees up!)

When I review a tea, I spend quality time and devote my focus on that tea. The tea experience must be made from all dimensions of one's perception. As I have not had adequate time for this, I have been brewing lower quality tea on the go (thank goodness for Tea Travelers from Tea's Etc..).

Today I decided to spend a different kind of time with the yancha that was before me.

I drank, and drank, and drank, and drank, and drank, and drank and drank....

I pushed this tea quite hard...I almost feel bad for the poor leaves...
To put it lightly, I was quite happy by the end of this teas existence. I suppose that when one ingests almost intolerable quantities of this magic elixir, it starts to have an impact on hormones (or something related to the endorphins that your body produces).

I do feel quite accomplished (and a bit loopy), and will continue on the day in brighter spirits!



~billy

Another Essay on Fairtrade

View the essay Here.

TeaTra.de

If any of you follow Leafbox Tea, you are probably aware of the Admin's new project; TeaTra.de.

The concept will be a major benefit to the tea community if more passionate tea lovers are aware of the resources that will be available to them through this platform.

Companies selling tea.

Individuals selling tea.

Everyone selling tea either bulk or in small quantities out of their personal stash.

There will be a vast collection all in one single place.

Another benefit of this is that I can host my blog on a Wordpress format. So all of you who cannot follow my blogger, perhaps this will be of use to you.

Visit TeaTra.de for more details on this revolutionary new concept.



~billy

Thank You

Thank you to all who support this blog.

I appreciate every view, every comment and every acknowledgment.

It has been a great experience and I do not plan on stopping any time soon.

Also, thank you to all the other bloggers, forum members and viewers out there who comprise the whole of the online tea community. Without everyone who is involved, it would be no where.

I humbly invite you to look at yet one other tea blog list on the web.
Thank you, once again.



~billy

Supreme Organic Dragon Well

Happy New Year to each and every one of you dedicated (or first time) readers of this blog. I find that with the coming of the new year, more than likely, people construct resolutions. To all those of you who participated in this tradition, good luck to you. For all those who were uninterested or just a bit lackluster, I concur. The only thought I had was, “Find and drink better tea,” but I realized that action has been ongoing since I first fell into my passionate interest for the leaf. So be it.

This tea that the new year has been brought in with is an offering from Bird Pick. It has been sitting in my “To review” pile for a while. I had been too busy with holiday festivities, socialization, and relaxation to consume my ever growing collection and append the entire process in the written and captured fashion.

I have also been taking advantage of the opportunity to fulfill another of my hobbies while I have the chance.

In Indiana, there is no place close to what is in New Mexico. I can honestly say, I am a desert rat at heart.

This is a Supreme Organic Dragon Well green tea.

The dry leaf exhibits chestnuts (only they were not, at the time “roasting on an open fire”), fresh spinach and dry vegetation, of course referring to some form of dry, piled leaves, various twigs, and a bit of hay perhaps.

The water is cooled to the appropriate temperature and the brewing process begins.

The aroma of the liquor is heavily laden with sweet grass. Floral tones and pears are barely sensed.

Once upon the palate, green apples and grass begin the flavor profile. A very light roast finishes off the taste, and leaves behind a delicate astringency. Given time, though, the astringency becomes very powerful. Before my next batch is prepared, my mouth cannot even salivate.

This is one of the most sensitive Dragon Wells I have ever encountered. It is overly persnickety in every aspect. It took me a few tries to understand the correct method to brewing of this tea.

One of the characteristics I enjoy about this tea is that as the tea is brewed more and more, the flavor becomes sweeter. I have not had many teas that possess this quality, but I enjoy and appreciate it.

Thank you to Bird Pick, and again, a Happy New Year to all!

~billy

The Land of Enchantment - Home

It is good to be back home.

I left twelve degree weather and four inches of snow and arrived to seventy degrees and a magnificent sun staring me in the face.

New Mexico is a land full of wonders. It is my home.

The vibrant blue sky welcomes me.
There will be no White Christmas for me.

It is good to be back.


~billy

Enjoying My Tea

Today's tea; Gingko's Yunnan Golden Buds.

There will not be a fancy review, but I will spill some thoughts onto this page.

When reviewing tea, I focus on the tea. I focus on all the aspects of the aroma, appearance, color, history, brewing technique, flavors, textures, and anything else that gives a specific tea it's attributes. There is also the process of writing about the tea, and attempting to take decent photos to represent the tea as realistically as possible.

Today, I decided to do something different.
I decided to focus on nothing.

I sat back, relaxed, and sipped the tea.

Sometimes this represents even more aspects of a tea. The feeling of the warm brew as it travels down into your inner core and the warmth that it brings are feelings that are missed when one's mind is too focused.

A few sips into my session, there was knocking on the door of my humble dorm room. I said, in a friendly tone, to come on in.
One of the hall residents sat down. I gave him a cup, which he gladly took, and we talked.

I would have missed out on so much if I would have had a solitary session.
Tea opens one's eyes to so much if it is given the chance.

Enjoy your tea, my friends.


~billy

Autumn Photography

See more photographs at my Photobucket album.

Pu'erh Journey

I never really quite understood the pu'erh hype, especially shengpu.

Now, don't get me wrong; I had enjoyed my fair share of shu and sheng pu'erh tea, but I had never seen the reason people are so fascinated by it.

Sure there is a sense of secrecy, mystery, and variety behind pu'erh, but in my mind it really did not amount to that much. There are hundreds and thousands of aficionados of pu'erh that employ a vast knowledge of everything under the umbrella of pu'erh. Some connoisseurs seem to have the entire list of factories and recipes memorized and could detect any of their flavor profiles in one sip. It fascinated me how little I really knew (and still don't know).
I was content enjoying my traditional oolongs and greens, as well as the occasional white and black teas. I concentrated my knowledge and flavors around those types, and kept a small bit of pu'erh on hand when I felt like indulging in a different dimension.

I decided to splurge and order a few cakes from Puershop...
That was money well spent.


The appreciation that I now have for pu'erh has risen to a whole new level.

I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with the fine Readers of this humble blog.



~billy

Dunn Hall Tea Time

I live in Dunn Hall. I am surrounded by the best, most diverse group of guys I have ever met.
In Dunn Hall there are a variety of traditions, some of which I shall not disclose. One of them, however, is very fitting to the context of this blog.

Dunn Hall Tea Time has been an almost weekly event for about a year.
One of the students organized and hosted this tea time. We became acquainted (naturally, as I tend to happen upon anything relating to tea) and I jumped on the opportunity to be involved.
There were about 12 people that attended.

I brought and served an interpretation of an eight treasures tisane blend, and a 2009 autumnal flush darjeeling.

The man hosting the event brought a chocolate mint black tea, and a few Chinese greens and oolongs.
All were well received.

It was an enjoyable time of intellectual conversation, musical talent and appreciation, opposing opinions and good old fashioned brotherhood.

I feel like I am doing my part in spreading the love of tea to my eclectic generation.



~billy

P.S. I am sorry about the photo quality. These pictures were taken with my phone. I have been trying to set up mobile blogging (android OS has an app for that) but I have to do some troubleshooting before I have it running smoothly.

New Member of the Collection

This is a tea pot purchased from a local flea market. I did not expect to find a pot like this, somewhere like that.
Hidden in a back corner of a case cluttered with all sorts of other goods, a friend's eye caught a glimpse of this.

I presume it is yixing, perhaps cheaply made, but it only cost me about $4.00.
I figured it was not too much to lose.

The first thing about this pot one may notice is the speckles in the clay. Some are dark spots, others are shiny, and it is a bit of a rougher surface than some of my other yixings.
It is either not a pure yixing pot, or it is supposed to look like such. I am not a yixing expert by any means so please inform me if I am incorrect on the matter.

The pot is balanced nicely; it sits flat with the opening flush against the tea table.

I do not recognize artist marks.
Any clues..?

The opening looks like it was made in a rush with not a whole lot of effort put into it. I did not time the pour yet, but I believe it is about ten or eleven seconds and not too smooth.
Not too great, but I could deal with that. I just have to time my infusions to accommodate.

The pot on a whole looks rustic, but there are a few parts that I can tell have been hand-made or hand-edited, for lack of a better phrase.

The lid does not fit too snug, but it does not dribble when pouring so I do not find any complaints in that.

One of the surprising things about this pot was that it is almost perfectly balanced on water, more so than some of my other pots, which I do know to be true yixing.

For $4.00 I do not think this was a bad deal at all.
Any input or things to say about this pot from what you can see..?
Your contributions would be much appreciated!



~billy

Characteristics as a Result of Stress

An article about some of the science behind tea processing and how environmental and human induced stress affect the outcome of some teas, written by yours truly.

English Tea Blog